A former personal banking adviser addicted to online roulette took more than £70,000 from his own father’s bank accounts, a court has heard.

A former personal banking adviser addicted to online roulette took more than £70,000 from his own father’s bank accounts, a court has heard.

David James Collins, 23, had been jailed in 2010 for stealing from customers’ accounts and his father.

The court heard that on his release from prison his father forgave him and showed him kindness, providing a roof over his head and giving him money to get him on his feet.

But behind his back Collins started taking from his bank accounts. When his father found that £10,000 was missing he confronted his son but did not call the police when his son apologised and started to pay it back.

But Mold Crown Court heard Collins was repaying his dad with his own money – because he was withdrawing cash from another account without his knowledge.

The total fraud amounted to £72,000. The loss was £51,000, which he had spent on online gambling, sometimes spending £3,000 a day.

Collins, of Hazel Court, Rhyl, was jailed for two years by Judge Rhys Rowlands, who said he was “biting the hand that fed you.”

He admitted six fraud charges.

The judge said Collins received 21 months imprisonment for fraud in February 2012, was released in August that year, and was on licence when the new offences were committed.

“Having apologised to your father, he forgave you and allowed you to move back to live with him. He gave you money to help you where you were struggling to find work,” the judge said.

“Your expressions of remorse had a rather hollow ring to them. You repaid his generosity by assuming his identity and withdrawing significant sums of money from his bank accounts."

The judge said Collins “had the gall to apologise again and to repay him – while all you were doing was taking money from another account to pay him back”.

He said his behavior was “completely dishonest” and had breached his father’s trust.

The judge described the circumstances as a familiar story of someone who lost, then gambled more in an attempt to recoup his losses.

“Your predicament should service as a warning to others. You ran up unmanageable debts as a result of your behavior,” he said.

“While living under your father’s roof, you repaid his generosity by withdrawing £72,000 from his accounts.”

Judge Rowlands said Collins had left his father in an appalling situation.

Prosecuting barrister Anna Pope told how the previous case involved withdrawing £59,000 from customer accounts while working in a bank, and taking £19,000 from his father’s account.

But within months of his release he resumed his fraudulent behavior. His father forgave him, allowed him and his family to live with him, and gave him money.

In early 2011 it was found that £10,000 was missing from his account, the defendant was challenged, admitted what he had done, and started paying it back. But it turned out that he did that by using his father’s own money.

He was also transferring money from an investment account – which meant a total fraud of £72,543.

Collins' father, Michael, made a victim impact statement in which he expressed sadness, wanted his son to receive help, and said that he feared that he could never trust him again.

“If he had spoken to me and told me he needed money I would have tried to help him myself. He didn’t need to steal,” he said.

“I worry that if the banks had not informed me then he could have taken everything and moved abroad without telling me.

“He is my son and I want to help him. I hope he gets the support he needs.”

Tony Rose, defending, said Collins had been to Gamblers’ Anonymous and had not placed a bet since January.

He said at the time of the thefts Collins was in the grip of a serious gambling addiction, betting more and more in the hope of winning.

He had a severe problem and was “prey to the self deception that if he carried on gambling then ultimately he would win and be able to pay back the money he had taken from his father’s accounts”.